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Jaguars defense prepares for Oakland's read option offense

Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles (25) is brought down by the Jacksonville Jaguars defense including Sen'Derrick Marks (99), John Cyprien (37) and Andre Branch (90) during the first half of an NFL football game in Jacksonville, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 8, 2013.(AP Photo/Stephen Morton)

His season-long suspension for the bounty scandal completed, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton was at Senior Bowl last January in Mobile, Ala., discussing the boiler-plate topics — his exile, his return, when he was asked about the read option, which burst onto the NFL scene last year.

Payton could have been speaking for the majority of his coaching colleagues.

The read option was nerve-wracking because it was new and it bothered defensive staffs because they didn’t know enough about how to defend it.

To gain knowledge, staffs went to work this offseason, just a few examples being Payton visiting Alabama, Green Bay’s coaches talking to Texas A&M and the Jaguars visiting with coaches at Florida State and Nevada.

The Jaguars didn’t face any read option or pistol formation —the quarterback in the shotgun with a running back lined up behind him — looks in 2012, but they’ll get a heavy dose this year, starting Sunday against the Oakland Raiders.

Quarterback Terrelle Pryor was in the pistol or shotgun a combined 34 times last week against Indianapolis. In Week 3, it will be Seattle’s Russell Wilson, who will hand-off in the read option. And to wrap up the season’s first half, the Jaguars must deal with San Francisco’s Colin Kaepernick, who lined up in the pistol 41 times last week in a victory against Green Bay.

Pryor’s 112 yards rushing was the second-most in Week 1 and he showed equal ability to run away from and over Indianapolis defenders.

“He’s such a big guy who’s an elite runner,” Jaguars middle linebacker Paul Posluszny said. “It’s going to be a huge emphasis for us to stop those plays because he’s a large part of their offense.”

Against the Colts, the Raiders ran the pistol out of one-, two- and three-back formations, creating several options for the Jaguars to account for.

“The pistol they run, they run some basic power plays out of that,” defensive coordinator Bob Babich said. “That creates a little bit of a problem and anytime Terrelle has the ability to carry the ball, it’s a concern.”

But is all this here to stay? The Week 1 reaction would be no — Kaepernick, Wilson and the Redskins’ Robert Griffin III — the trio associated with the read option arrival last year, are also effective passers.

Before training camp started, a canvas of the Jaguars’ coaching and personnel staffs revealed they weren’t surprised the NFL had been introduced by the read option and pistol.

Linebackers coach Mark Duffner: “Not really, because football is cyclical. Right now, it’s the hot thing in both high school and college football and if you see a scheme or a fundamental that’s productive, you look into it and see how it can help your team.”

Defensive line coach Todd Wash: “It’s something we have to study. I don’t think it will be a true overhaul of an offense but if it’s 10-15 snaps a game, we have to be up to speed on it.”

Quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo: “There’s a place for it, but I don’t think the speed and size and physicality of the NFL game and the quarterback position being so important, it would be hard for me to say, ‘This is what we’re going to make a living at running.’ There’s a place for it, but the guy better be able to throw.”

Director of pro personnel Chris Polian: “It will be interesting to see what the trend is this year. The thing I would note, whether it’s Kaepernick or Wilson or RG3, they’re all really good passers and they have strong, accurate arms. Their passing skills are a very big part of their games. You still need to be able to throw the ball. But it adds a complexity to an offense that a defense has to account for.”

Defensive backs coach DeWayne Walker: “Not really surprised. I think it was something that was bound to happen. Now it just comes down to defenses catching up to it and being able to defend it. How long will offenses want to put their quarterback in harm’s way?”

That’s the multi-million dollar question.

The Raiders ran the read option with Pyror keeping the football at least five times against the Colts. In their win over Green Bay, the 49ers’ Kaepernick had only one keeper in a read option concept and the play was blown up for a 7-yard loss by Clay Matthews. During Seattle’s win at Carolina, the Seahawks ran the read option or the pistol formation 11 times, but Wilson had no designed carries.

Even if the quarterback has handed the football off in a read option play, he is still open to being hit if he is carrying out his fake. Last week, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said the rule was “flawed and biased,” because it would expose Kaepernick to more hits.

“I don’t see any issue with it,” Carroll told reporters. “I think the quarterbacks, when they’re runners, they’re able to get hit. And when they’re not, they’re not. That’s the only way they could have stated the rules. I thought they were pretty clear about it.”

What was pretty clear in the Raiders-Colts game is how quickly Pryor can make something happen on the run. He scrambled for 29 yards and also had designed runs gain 26 and 13 yards.

How to defend the read option has been expanded just in the last year. For a defensive end, the early thought was to stay at home to protect the edge, but in the Super Bowl, Baltimore’s game plan with Terrell Suggs was to “crash” the handoff area no matter what, knowing he had a linebacker helping behind him.

An emphasis for the Jaguars this week have been “run fits” — making sure the defensive linemen are in the right spots to take up blockers and allowing linebackers like Posluszny to shoot through for the stop.

If the Jaguars do things right on first and second downs against Pryor, they have a chance to even their record. He’s a better athlete than a passer and will be making only his third NFL start. But not getting out of position by chasing him is another key.

“We need to have a lot of discipline,” Babich said. “We’ve practiced making sure that we understand exactly how he escapes and what he can do when he escapes.”